Chapter 157: It's Also Fate

"Retreat! Brothers, retreat!"

In the endless ruins, Lynn called out loudly to the soldiers beside him. These soldiers didn't all directly belong to his command, but his composure, his calmness, and even his booming voice had become trusted guidance for these German soldiers. Despite the formidable enemy, with shells whistling down intermittently and explosions shaking the earth and sky, they didn't flee in panic. Instead, they retreated in an orderly manner, covering each other. Especially the night soldiers carrying square battery boxes took on the dangerous task of guarding the rear.

Order in adversity should have brought genuine relief to any commander. However, Lynn had probably shouted "retreat" and "fall back" the most. As a commander, who wouldn't want to cheer "attack" and "advance" with gusto?

As the infantry moved, two "Tiger" heavy tanks, standing firm like iron fortresses amidst enemy fire, also reversed. Amidst the particularly noisy rumble, the heavy steel tracks clanked, bricks and rubble fell from the vehicle, and bursts of smoke erupted from the exhaust vents, creating a formidable sight. To avoid being killed by the enemy during the retreat, the German tank crews kept the front of their vehicles facing forward as much as possible even as they reversed. They backed up about twenty meters, then turned into the broken side streets between the two main streets. The side-by-side battle formation turned into a single-file formation, not in a completely straight line but with the lead tank hugging the left side of the street and the rear tank hugging the right. This arrangement ensured that at least one tank would have cover from the terrain no matter which direction the enemy's combat vehicles appeared from.

Following behind the rearguard "Tiger," Lynn had to pay attention to both the dynamics of the ruins ahead and the condition of the soldiers. However, he frequently neglected what was underfoot, leading to several stumbling incidents. The street, usually wide enough for two cars to pass, had been widened due to the intense Allied bombing, which had filled in the steps between the sidewalks and the road surface with rubble. Many three- or four-story buildings still stood on either side of the street, appearing baroque in style, but all were charred black. Except for some metal window frames that could withstand high temperatures, the windows were all gone, leaving various-shaped holes. Under the cover of night, it seemed as though various monsters had opened their mouths wide, ready to devour anyone passing through the street.

After the German retreat, the Soviet artillery did not continue to ravage the empty ruins. They had apparently noticed the disappearance of the German blocking firepower. Lynn soon spotted cautious and agile figures through the infrared telescope - although they were beyond the effective range of the infrared night vision device, the crisscrossing artillery fire and the light from occasional flares bursting in the distance were sufficient for non-precise observation. As Lynn expected, before long, a terrifying whistling sound came, and an explosion instantly hit a building on the right side of the street. The explosion illuminated the silhouettes of some German soldiers for a moment. Huge blocks of cement and stones fell, as if this area were undergoing the most violent earthquake.

"Watch out!" someone shouted in German, but fortunately, no soldiers were nearby. However, not everyone would survive in such a perilous battlefield. In the brief and sharp whistling, powerful shells followed one after another. More buildings collapsed under this more ferocious destruction than an earthquake. The street seemed to have been attacked by hail, and those hit by the falling debris suffered injuries ranging from minor pain to severe wounds. Some were even knocked unconscious. In such a situation, the robust bodies of the "Tigers" became the only dependable shelter for the soldiers. However, during the retreat, tank drivers without rearview mirrors could not see what was happening behind them. With a piercing sound of metal distortion, the tank on the left side rammed into an abandoned garbage truck, then collided with a fire hydrant that no longer had water pressure. When an enemy high-explosive shell hit the front of the tank, the driver probably made a mistake due to nervousness, causing the tank to veer to the right during the continued retreat. Its rear end hit the exterior wall of a building, which, despite its appearance of height and thickness, collapsed like decayed tree bark. Large pieces of cement fell onto the turret and upper body of the "Tiger," making people sweat. Once the complex machinery of this behemoth stalled, even experienced drivers would have a hard time restarting it quickly.

"Hey, Lohf, come over here!"

Seeing his grimy companion almost ambushed by their own "Tiger," Lynn shouted anxiously.

Blech didn't intentionally disappear at a critical moment but was almost buried alive by the dust kicked up by the Soviet artillery. His right leg was also heavily hit by a block of cement, and he was limping as he walked.

After breaking through the wall, the rear half of the "Tiger" tank was inserted into the building. It stopped abruptly and then suddenly moved forward after a strange rumbling sound. Maneuvering such a 60 to 70-ton behemoth was indeed much more difficult than driving a regular car. It returned to the street, turned clockwise slowly and laboriously, then reversed again. After driving a few meters, the driver realized that the position was still not right, so he had to turn clockwise a few more degrees to back up smoothly along the street without changing direction.

Lynn was worried about the trouble, but the "Tiger" behind him, despite having a few more bricks and stones behind it, reversed smoothly along the road as if nothing had happened. However, the other "Tiger," which had been following the rules, inexplicably stalled two minutes later. With that rumbling sound, almost everyone thought it would restart in the next second. However, as time passed, it seemed that this behemoth had made up its mind to take a nap here, regardless of whether the driver was on the vehicle or off it, refusing to move.

"Damn it!"

Having retreated thirty to forty meters, Lynn could only stare blankly at the stalled "Tiger." He picked up his assault rifle and saw two or three vague figures through the infrared telescope in the ruins where they had previously ambushed the T-34 combat team. As for the exact number of Soviet soldiers, the ones who led the combat reconnaissance and seemed to have entered the street couldn't be estimated accurately. They might have already noticed the stalled "Tiger" and were likely reporting to the Soviet heavy tank or artillery units behind them.

Faced with the sudden changes that could occur at any moment on the battlefield, every second of hesitation could lead to a change in tactical initiative. Should they abandon their valuable heavy equipment and weapons for urban warfare?

This was a question Lynn couldn't decide. He watched anxiously as the other "playful but healthy" Tiger retreated to the corner of the street, concealing its rear end along with most of its body between two collapsed buildings. It was like a combat shelter tailored for it in the city!

With the Tiger's combat range, protecting their comrades was easy. At this moment, including Lynn's subordinates, more than twenty German soldiers had retreated nearby. Together with the small teams and individuals engaged in free combat, there were about forty to fifty people who could coordinate with the two "Tigers" to counterattack the Soviets. Lynn was determined to fight.

"Occupy firing positions nearby and fire when you hear the artillery!"

After issuing indiscriminate combat orders, Lynn individually named his subordinate soldiers, asking Kantsev to bring a sniper rifle to a secluded and concealed location, not to shoot people but to shoot lights, and arranged Tikhomirov, who had a submachine gun, to provide close combat cover for him. Blech, Brull, and Noah, with infrared night vision goggles, as well as Noah's temporary loader, followed closely behind him. Next, he went straight through the street, quickly and covertly moving between the buildings on the right, bringing this small team of elite combatants to the diagonal opposite side of the stalled "Tiger," waiting in ambush.